Walnut Grove's Jadon Cohee, facing WRCA in the 2013 Terry Fox Legal Beagle final. Cohee and Co. are back at the Beagle this weekend. (PNG photo)

LANGLEY — For a few incredible days this past summer, Jadon Cohee did his best to convince himself that what seemed so unreal, was indeed reality.

“At first, when he called me, I didn’t believe it was him,” laughs the senior point guard who last spring led Langley’s Walnut Grove Gators to the B.C. Triple A title. “I said ‘Is this a joke?’ and he said ‘No, it’s Steve Nash.’” Victoria’s two-time NBA Most Valuable Player and eight-time all-star, in the Lower Mainland and looking for a training partner to rehab from injury with, was put in touch with Cohee. The pair subsequently spent three straight days together in a local gym.

“I’ll be honest with you,” Cohee said Tuesday as he prepared to make his own return from injury ahead of his No. 1-ranked team’s appearance this weekend at the Terry Fox Legal Beagle Invitational in Port Coquitlam, “at first, I was just trying to play it cool. But on the inside, all I could think was ‘I am playing one-on-one with Steve Nash.’”

(Legal Beagle championship-round draw below)

Too mature and goal-driven to be star struck for too long, Cohee came away from the sessions energized by the affirmations of Nash’s legendary work ethic, and by the time the Lakers’ point guard took to instruct the touted young player who was born three days after Nash was drafted in the first round of the 1996 NBA draft.

“He treated me like a teammate,” continued Cohee, who last season was picked the provincial championship MVP, 21 years after Nash collected the same honour upon leading St. Michaels University School to the title in 1992. “He was very positive. If I made a mistake or there was something to do with my mechanics, he would stop and show me. We’ve kept in contact.”

All of that has served Cohee well as he has embarked on a senior season in which his leadership skills have matched his immense talents as a passer, shooter, defender and scorer.

How else can you explain the way he has helped head coach George Bergen solidify the team’s new defence-first mentality, one which has helped the No. 1-ranked Gators roll out to a 14-0 start to the new season despite the fact that Walnut Grove graduated a half-dozen main rotation players from last season’s title-winning team and were not the coaches pick to start the season at No. 1 in The Province’s Big 10 rankings?

“I think it shows Jadon’s will to win and it has spread to everyone on that team,” says Pasha Bains, Cohee’s club coach at Drive Basketball, when asked about the more intangible part of the 6-foot-4 senior’s game. “What I have noticed the most this year when I’ve seen Walnut Grove play, is Jadon knows when to pat his teammates on the back, but he also knows when he has to yell.”

It has turned the Gators into a formidable bunch, especially with the play of guards Bryce Derton and Lucas Hodgson, and forward Tyler Anderson improving every game. With Cohee unable to play in a recent game against No. 8-ranked Terry Fox, the team still rallied and came away with a 67-64 victory.

Part and parcel with keeping everyone on his team involved in the play is Cohee’s innate passing ability. But it wasn’t always that way.

“Back when I played in the Steve Nash League,” he remembers of his first years in the game, “I’d go a whole game without passing. I’m not kidding. My mom would bribe me with chips and chocolate. Then I just fell in love with it.”

Bains, himself the 1998 B.C. championship MVP while starring for the Richmond Colts, sees even deeper meaning to Cohee’s passes. To him, they represent the outstetched arms of a teammate, drawing everyone else in to share team success.

“I can see how he passes the ball to lift his teammates and give them confidence,” explains Bains. “He gives up easy layups because he is genuinely happy to get other players started. That speaks to his maturity.”

At the start of the season, The Province asked a select group of high school coaches who they thought most valuable player in the province was. Walnut Grove’s Bergen, himself a B.C. first team all-star for MEI in 1970, had no doubt.

“Jadon, more than any other player in the province, impacts all areas of the game on a consistent basis,” Bergen wrote. “He will control tempo because of his position, and influence his teammates more than any other player.” Earlier this week, Bergen added: “The only way I can really sum him up is he loves his teammates.” As simple as that sounds, it’s the best recommendation of character there is.

Cohee gets his chance to build relationships with a new group of players next season, this time at the NCAA Div. 1 level, when he suits up for the Seattle University Redhawks, the Western Athletic Conference program which also features a pair of past B.C. high school standouts in guards Emerson Murray (St. George’s) and Manroop Clair (Burnaby South).

Besides picking a program close to home, where he will be able to contribute sooner rather than later, Cohee says he has found a real match with Redhawks head coach Cameron Dollar, the former UCLA point guard who helped lead the Bruins to a national title when the 1995 NCAA Final Four was staged in Seattle.

“That was really important to me because he sees the game the way that I see it,” Cohee said of Dollar. “And they were at all of my games this summer. They were in Portland, Houston. They followed me around the country and that meant a lot to me.”

Cohee has played top U.S. competition on the club circuit with Drive, he’s led Walnut Grove to a 55-3 record since the start of the 2012-13 season, and he’s the only player to have twice been selected to play against U.S. powerhouse Findlay Prep at the annual Tsumura Basketball Invitational.

All of that and and the mentorship of a guy named Nash? It’s a resume that’s pretty tough to top.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.